Gardner-Webb gave Chris Holtmann his first Division I assistant’s job in 2003 and his first head teaching gig in 2010.
Holtmann did proper by the Runnin’ Bulldogs — main them to the varsity’s first 20-win season in 2012-13 — earlier than shifting on to Butler, Ohio State and, now, DePaul.
On Tuesday, Holtmann faces Gardner-Webb for the primary time since his departure in 2013 when the Blue Demons (2-2) host the Runnin’ Bulldogs (0-4) in Chicago.
Whereas it isn’t the only real cause Holtmann scheduled Gardner-Webb — it is solely getting tougher for faculties to determine nonconference slates — he’s mates with Runnin’ Bulldogs coach Jeremy Luther. He stays significantly tight with Gardner-Webb’s earlier coach, Tim Craft, who was Luther’s boss earlier than he took the job at Western Carolina.
“I simply owe a lot to that college,” mentioned Holtmann, who served as Gardner-Webb’s graduation speaker in 2022.
DePaul has dropped back-to-back residence video games to Buffalo and Northwestern, however the Blue Demons confirmed progress in Friday’s 81-79 loss to the Wildcats.
Prized freshman guard Kruz McClure, who scored simply seven factors in 27 minutes over DePaul’s first three video games, got here off the bench to ship 15 factors in 21 minutes. Seven-foot-2 freshman Fabian Flores offered six factors and eight rebounds over 16 minutes in his first legit school motion.
McClure, although, remains to be determining life on the defensive finish of the ground whereas the slender Flores, a Spain native who did not signal with DePaul till mid-September, is studying how bodily he must play right here.
“We do have some younger guys on our roster that I really feel like we’ll must play by the early a part of the season to get ourselves in place to be the sort of crew we wish to be in January, February, March,” Holtmann mentioned.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs dwell as much as their nickname — they play at a tempo that ranks among the many high 65 nationally per KenPom.com — however they’re battling successful as they’re integrating 11 new gamers. They have already got dropped street video games at Minnesota, Clemson and Elon. In its solely residence recreation, Gardner-Webb suffered a 92-81 loss to Div. II North Greenville — Luther’s alma mater.
Sophomore guard Jacob Hudson leads the Runnin’ Bulldogs in scoring (15.0 ppg) and minutes (30.8 per recreation), however their points are on the defensive finish. They permit opponents to shoot 52.8% from the sphere, which incorporates 40.7% marksmanship on 3-point makes an attempt. They’re additionally getting outrebounded by 11 per recreation.
“I feel early, we’ll battle a bit of bit probably — particularly with our schedule,” Luther mentioned. “However I feel this crew is constructed for climbing the ladder all through the course of the 12 months. When January and February hits, I feel this crew has an opportunity to be actually good.”
–Area Degree Media
